The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and more specifically, to avoiding gate metal via shorting to source or drain contacts.
Back-end-of-line (BEOL) is a phrase used to refer to the second portion of integrated circuit fabrication where the individual devices (transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc.) are interconnected with wire interconnects (i.e., the metallization layer) on the wafer. Common metals used to form the wire interconnects are copper and aluminum. BEOL generally begins when the first layer of metal is deposited on the wafer. BEOL includes the formation of contacts, insulating layers (dielectrics), metal levels, and bonding sites for chip-to-package connections.